Latest Tom Dienhart News

Week 4 is bursting at the seams with 14 games. None have national implications, but all will go a long way in shaping the fortunes of the Big Ten and its postseason hopes.
There are just two road games—and they are intriguing: Indiana at Wake Forest and Maryland at West Virginia. And how cool will the BYU at Michigan tilt be? Exactly.

Iowa is one of five Big Ten unbeatens. And that’s a bit of surprise for a program that many had modest expectations for in 2015. But, Hawkeye running back Jordan Canzeri had no reservations that this could be a big season in Iowa City.

A grassroots push to get ESPN’s “College GameDay” to Bloomington for Indiana’s Big Ten opener vs. Ohio State has begun. First, the Hoosiers must win at Wake Forest this Saturday. If that happens, Indiana may have a shot—albeit a tiny one–to be epicenter of the college grid world for one day. And that would be amazing. *** The Big Ten has said it wants member schools to play at least one foe from a Power Five league each year. Cool. And, it turns out, some teams not in Power Five leagues would qualify as being “Power Five.” Confused? Don’t fret.

The Big Ten is starting to come into focus as we enter the fourth week of action. Ohio State and Michigan State are 1-2 in the AP poll. And Northwestern, Iowa and Indiana have been early surprises, as each is 3-0. But what team has been the most impressive so far?

OK, yesterday marked the two-month warning bell for the Michigan State at Ohio State game. I know what you are thinking … that’s WAY too much time between now and then to be talking about that game. SO much can happen over the next 60 or so days. Point taken. But that won’t stop me from cranking up the hype machine right now. Will both teams make it to 10-0 before meeting? *** Good analysis of the offensive struggles at Minnesota from SBNation. At some point, doesn’t Minnesota have to do something different? I mean, c’mon. The definition of insanity

Wow. Ohio State and Michigan State are 1-2 in the AP poll. Can Nov. 21 hurry up and get here? That’s the date when the Spartans play at Ohio State. Ohio State earned 42 of 61 first-place votes after getting 59 first-place votes last week. No. 2 Michigan State got seven votes, Ole Miss tied for third and received 11 first-place votes and No. 8 LSU got the other vote. *** Is this the best secondary that Urban Meyer ever has coached? With back-to-back games allowing less than 100 passing yards, Meyer was asked to assess the play of his

Here is what I learned on Saturday, a day when Northwestern and Iowa continued to dream big, Illinois had its balloon burst, Nebraska had its heart broken (again) and Ohio State, Michigan State and Minnesota won ugly.